The small Central Queensland town of Woorabinda has been on boil water alerts since December. Photo: Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council, Facebook.
The Queensland Crisafulli Government has committed millions in funding in the 2025/26 Budget for critical water infrastructure upgrades in the small regional town of Woorabinda.
Some $18 million has been promised for the long-awaited upgrades, but the government is awaiting help from its federal counterpart.
Central Queensland’s Woorabinda, which the State Government said was one of Australia’s most disadvantaged towns, has been on boil water alerts since last December due to what the LNP said was infrastructure neglect by its Labor predecessor.
Three of the community’s four water bores aren’t operational and residents are only able to access “low-quality” water piped from Baralaba.
The funding commitment for the town’s upgrades is part of a plan to improve the water supply in areas that the LNP says have been abandoned by the previous government.
The Crisafulli Government’s $108 million Closing the Gap Priorities Fund is also providing $8 million each for the towns of Kowanyama and Aurukun.
Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Fiona Simpson visited Woorabinda to meet community leaders and discuss the town’s infrastructure needs.
Ms Simpson called on the Federal Labor Government to match the Crisafulli Government’s funding to ensure the town’s ailing infrastructure could be given a complete overhaul.
The Queensland Minister for Water Ann Leahy also wrote to then-Federal Minister for Water Tanya Plibersek, submitting a funding request. The current Minister for Water, Murray Watt, has also received requests to match the state’s funding pledge.
“I have seen firsthand the toll it is taking on the Woorabinda community,” Ms Simpson said.
“Clearly, Woorabinda’s water infrastructure needed significant investment and upgrades for some time under the former Labor government, but they were tragically silent on these frontline issues, and the current situation is completely unacceptable.
“The only tap Queensland Labor politicians cared about when they were in government was a steady flow of cash to retain lawyers for advice, not taps in remote and discrete communities to supply clean drinking water.”
Woorabinda Aboriginal Shire Council Mayor Terence Munns also raised alarms.
“It is a basic human right to have clean drinking water, but it has been a Band-Aid solution for so long and the community has had enough,” Mayor Munns said.
“Our infrastructure can’t keep up and it’s on its last legs.”
